James Babb
Background * Libertarian, leader in the PA Libertarian party Links * http://www.jamesbabb.com/ * Babb-debate-article from October, 2006 * Size_of_legislature-planks-Babb * Accountability-plank-Babb Less Government. More Freedom. Libertarian! http://www.individual-i.com/images/i-support-88.gif * Make Government Transparent * Dramatically Reduce Taxes, Spending & Borrowing * Protect Civil Liberties & Private Property * Hold Polluters Accountable Instead of Taxpayers * Stop Unauthorized Spending :The growing corruption and runaway spending in Harrisburg is taking its toll on every Pennsylvanian. Minor adjustments to the status quo will not solve our problem. It’s time for a radical change. Tyrannical Taxation: Together we can stop it. There was a time in Pennsylvania when the government had only a handful of responsibilities: protect life, liberty and property. Today, our lives, liberty and property are under assault from government. Taxes are soaring; businesses are leaving because of government without limits. I intend to reacquaint the Pennsylvania legislature with the Pennsylvania Constitution, the document that our current representatives in government consider archaic and irrelevant. As Michael Badnarik puts it: “The Constitution is not just a good idea, it’s the law.” Once we get the Pennsylvania government back to its legal limits, we can dramatically reduce the tax burden on every family and business in Pennsylvania. My opponent has a lot of great ideas for your hard earned money. I start from a different premise: It’s your money! Would you rather spend it on a better education for your children? Would you take your family on a nice vacation? Could you do something nice for your church or favorite charity? It’s up to you, because it’s your money, not theirs. Elect me if you prefer to make the decisions about your money. A new age for Pennsylvania politics… I’m excited to be part of a grassroots effort to put the Pennsylvania legislature back under constitutional restraints. The illegal pay-raise scandal has grabbed the public’s attention. Now these people are learning that the pay-raise is just a single symptom of the malignant corruption in the Pennsylvania legislature. We now have a unique opportunity to make history in 2006. This is our time to take back Pennsylvania! Fiscal Responsibility: * Making Pennsylvania safe for business again! * Taxes, Spending & Borrowing: Smash them All! * 2004 state business taxes per capita in Pennsylvania were 45% above the national average. * 2004 state individual taxes per capita in Pennsylvania were 13% above the national average. ::Source: IssuesPA /US Census Are we surprised when businesses relocate to other states? Are we surprised when our college graduates move away for better job opportunities? Are we surprised that 4 of the top 5 employers in Pennsylvania are government agencies? What happened to all the big employers in Pennsylvania? We can make Pennsylvania safe for business again! I will oppose all spending not explicitly authorized by the Pennsylvania constitution. I will vote against any attempt to spend the income of our children via borrowing. It’s a common myth that the government can create jobs. While politicians gladly take credit when new jobs are created, it’s entrepreneurs and their successful businesses that create opportunities. The best thing the government can do is just get out of the way. Once we eliminate corporate subsidies, government protected monopolies and high taxes, Pennsylvania will become a magnet for new businesses. We need to let Pennsylvania’s entrepreneurs create the opportunities for prosperity. Improving Education Restoring Education Choice The cost of education is rising and the quality is declining. This is the inherent problem with any product or service provided by government. Exorbitant school taxes are taking their toll, especially on those with fixed incomes. We need to to turn this trend around. Why are computers and automobiles getting better and cheaper, but the opposite is true for education services? The only way I know to improve quality and reduce costs is the free market. I trust parents to make good choices about their kids’ future a lot more than politicians. I also have full confidence in the charitable traditions of Pennsylvanians to voluntarily provide for the underprivileged. I know that the consumer demand for affordable, high quality education would create wonderful opportunities for entrepreneurs eager to compete for the parents’ business. Sadly, the people have grown so accustomed to government authority over education that they can’t even imagine the alternatives. Everybody jokes about government waste, incompetence and corruption, but many are happy to send their pride and joy off to the government for 8 hours a day. We have a real problem on our hands. I support the right of parents to select the appropriate education for their child. I am opposed to the use of force to make anyone pay for another family’s choice. I will work to return control and responsibility of education to parents. As a first step towards that end, when elected, I will introduce legislation to end the compulsory nature of government schooling. This one simple step will dramatically improve the quality of education in Pennsylvania and save taxpayers millions of dollars. Parents will be free to select the appropriate education for their children without interference or monitoring from state or local bureaucrats. Parents who chose to home educate or select non-government schools and apprenticeships will be free to do so. Ending the compulsory nature of government education will eliminate the large enforcement costs and also remove a major disruptive element in the government’s classrooms. What about vouchers? Because I am a proponent of free market solutions, sometimes people think that I would advocate school vouchers as a step in the right direction. However, I reject vouchers because they fail to address any of the root problems of our education system. They expand government power and endanger what is left of private education. I do not consider education vouchers a step in the right direction on either a practical or moral basis. It’s wrong to steal wealth from one family and give it to another. Beyond the moral argument against voucher programs is the question of practicality. When private schools receive money from the state, the politicians, not the parents, become the customer to please. Marshal Fritz, president of the Alliance for the Separation of School & State, http://www.sepschool.org, recently offered his insightful analysis of school reform in Reason magazine, http://www.reason.com/0512/fe.ls.let.shtml: :“Most necessary reform: None. Reform implies the government is still involved. We need to transform America's collectivist approach to education into free-market education. This means ending not only compulsory funding but compulsory attendance and content. We must separate schools from the state. :''Biggest obstacle: Tax-funded school vouchers are the biggest obstacle to improving education. They will again trick parents into believing school improvement is just around the corner. They could delay return to a genuine free market by a generation or more. Vouchers replace today's monopoly with a monopsony (single buyer). Schools will have only one customer to serve and it's not you. Follow the money. :''As Douglas Dewey once asked, "How is moving from 88 percent of the school population in dependency to nearly 100 percent a good first step toward zero percent? What possibly could motivate edu-welfare parents to demand a lower and lower voucher?"…Embrace full choice. Start with your own children. Remove them from school-by-government. You'll not be paying twice for education: You'll pay taxes for the state to harm other people's children, but you'll pay only once for your children's education." Environment Protecting the Environment (from the government) * Hold Polluters Accountable * End Pay to Pollute Programs * Protect Private Property By holding polluters accountable instead of taxpayers, we can attract more nonpolluting businesses to the Commonwealth, increase prosperity, increase jobs AND protect the environment. Preserving our environment should be a top priority for all Pennsylvanians. I will lead a charge to shut down our government’s own trash importation and toxic discharge businesses. Currently our government makes money with a wide range of pay-to-pollute programs, then they expect taxpayers to foot the cleanup bill for polluted land, water and air. By protecting our private property rights, we can hold polluters accountable instead of tax payers and attract clean business to our state. Pennsylvanian’s want to preserve the environment. Let’s let them do it. Instead of paying for another failed industrial bailout or agricultural welfare scheme, Pennsylvanians should be free to invest in the parks or conservation projects of their choosing. We don’t need to filter our charity through Harrisburg bureaucrats. Self-Defense Self-Defense: A basic human right. Not a privilege granted by government Section 21 of the PA Constitution: '''The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.' ‘Nuff said. Reform or Repeal? Everybody seems to be talking about reform again now that Pennsylvanians are taking a hard look at their legislature. Skyrocketing property taxes, failing schools, rampant corruption and cronyism are taking their toll on every Pennsylvanian. Obviously, their is a growing demand for change, but can a few reforms really turn things around? Incumbents are often the loudest spokespeople for reform. Rather than accept the consequences of their mistakes and misdeeds, they are quick to blame others. They'll point the finger at the lobbyists, other branches of government, another political party, "the system", etc. They will blame anyone but themselves for their own failed policies. While talking about reform, they go about their business as usual. They quietly vote for one bloated budget after another, raise taxes and borrow money with little or no consideration for those who will be paying the bill. Real change is needed, but that change must be driven by individual Pennsylvanians, not politicians clinging to power. We won't get Pennsylvania back on track with some minor tweaking of this law or that, or shifting the tax burden from one group to another. So instead of joining the "reform" bandwagon, I intend to REPEAL. Repeal means that you take away government power and restore personal choice. Repeal is the only way to reduce the tax burden on everyone. Repeal is the only way to jump start our economy and bring back our big employers. Once we reduce government spending, lower taxes and repeal all the unnecessary, bureaucratic regulatory laws that are strangling Pennsylvania’s businesses, Pennsylvania will once again be safe for entrepreneurs, business owners and investment capital. My Pledge: When elected, 1) I will personally read every single piece of legislation that I vote for. 2) If I vote for any new law, I will publicly cite the exact clause in our constitution that authorizes such a law. 3) I will vote against any legislation not clearly mandated by our constitution. 4) I will lead the General Assembly in eliminating the thousands of unconstitutional laws that limit our freedom and prosperity. I challenge my opponent to make the same pledge. Babb Babb